Bellator 81: What to Watch For

By: Mike WhitmanNov 15, 2012

Marcin Held has secured seven of his 14 wins by submission. |
Keith Mills

Bellator Fighting Championships will once again invade your
television screens on Friday, as the promotion’s seventh season
rolls into the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.
Bellator 81 may take place in the smallest state in the Union,
but this card could nonetheless deliver some big thrills, serving
to piece together the final for the promotion’s ongoing lightweight
tournament.

Here is what to watch for during the MTV2 broadcast:

Held Up

Though Held was clearly the larger man that night, he still had to
fight tooth and nail for every inch against his game opponent, who
clawed his way back into the fight during the second round of their
Bellator 77 collision by stuffing Held’s takedown attempts and
winging wild punches that landed just often enough to put the
decision in doubt.

Round three was another competitive stanza, with both fighters
looking exhausted during the final five minutes. In the end, Held
managed to convince the cageside judges that he won the fight, but
this was not the type of performance I was expecting from the
prospect.

Fans of the Polish submission specialist should worry about his
continual lack of cardio in the cage, as well as his inability to
consistently take the fight to the floor without diving on a leg
lock, Masakazu
Imanari-style. This would be less of a problem if the
20-year-old had shown more improvement in his standup technique,
but that was not the case. Held needs to up his game -- and quick
-- or I think he is in for a rude awakening against Rich
Clementi.

Clementi’s Claim

While Held looked tentative during most of his quarterfinal
contest, Clementi took charge of his bout from the beginning,
likely realizing he would need a hot start in order to stifle
highly touted prospect Alexander
Sarnavskiy.

“No Love” saw an opening early in the first frame and jumped on it
-- literally. The American monkey-climbed his way onto the
overaggressive Russian’s back and sucked away much of his wind
while threatening with rear-naked choke attempts.

Clementi hit the “replay” button in round two, putting the
undefeated youngster on his back before once again sinking his
hooks and spending much of the round fishing for another rear-naked
choke. Though Sarnavskiy rallied to end the second round and
carried his momentum into the third as the American began to fade,
the damage had already been done, resulting in Clementi advancing
to the semifinals and Sarnavskiy swallowing a bitter first
defeat.

Can Clementi repeat the same trick against another promising but
raw talent in Held?

Justice for Jansen

It did not look good for the American during the first round of his
Bellator 77 clash with Magomed
Saadulaev, as the stocky Russian continually threatened to take
Jansen’s back during the first five minutes. In response, Jansen
tried several times to lock up a guillotine choke on his bearded
opponent, but each attempt proved futile.

In round two, Jansen began to turn the tide, pumping a stiff jab
into Saadulaev’s mug while sprawling on all of his takedown
attempts. As the Dagestan native became wearier, Jansen appeared to
grow stronger, finishing the frame with a flurry of jackhammer
ground-and-pound to both the dome and the guts.

Running on fumes, Saadulaev had little to offer in round three,
diving on a desperation takedown attempt and leaving his neck
exposed. Jansen seized the opportunity and locked up that
guillotine, squeezing for all he was worth and ending the
fight.

I think that performance makes Jansen the favorite to win this
whole thing. With that said, “The Fugitive” surely knows his path
to a title shot will get no easier in the semis.

Teetering on Tirloni

I still do not quite know how to feel about Ricardo
Tirloni, but I think we will all have a good idea of where he
actually stands after his meeting with Jansen.

Tirloni’s career on paper is an impressive one thus far, with his
only losses coming to future
UFC champion Benson
Henderson and Rick Hawn,
Bellator’s current No. 1 contender. Even so, it is tough to get a
feel for exactly how high Tirloni’s ceiling extends, and his
quarterfinal appearance against Rene Nazare
did little to clear up the issue.

Yes, Tirloni showed great intestinal fortitude in turning a near
knockout loss into a sweet brabo choke submission win, but it is
not his heart, resilience or even his manhood that I am
questioning. When that dude loses, he goes out on his shield. What
is more concerning to me are the openings that Tirloni presents
when he gets excited, both standing and on the ground. This can
certainly work to his advantage, and, indeed, that quality has
netted him nearly all of his victories by knockout or submission,
but as we have seen against top competition, the approach can also
backfire.

If Tirloni could keep his chin tucked a little more and hold his
hands a bit higher, I would not worry so much. I think the same is
true for his ground game. I would love to see the Brazilian take
his time and really set up a strategy that would play to his
well-roundedness and aggression, instead of exclusively relying on
those aspects of his game to carry him to victory.

Can Tirloni get past Jansen? If he can, I think he will soon find
himself next in line for a crack at the lightweight title.